The Silent Waters by Brittainy C. Cherry

Our lives are a collection of moments. Some utterly painful and full of yesterday’s hurts. Some beautifully hopeful and full of tomorrow’s promises.

I’ve had many moments in my lifetime, moments that changed me, challenged me. Moments that scared me and engulfed me. However, the biggest ones—the most heartbreaking and breathtaking ones—all included him.

I was ten years old when I lost my voice. A piece of me was stolen away, and the only person who could truly hear my silence was Brooks Griffin. He was the light during my dark days, the promise of tomorrow, until tragedy found him. Tragedy that eventually drowned him in a sea of memories.

This is the story of a boy and girl who loved each other, but didn’t love themselves. A story of life and death. Of love and broken promises.

Of moments.

My Review:
4.5 stars — I saw this book on sale on one of my bargain book emails (BookBub I think), and while I haven’t read any by Ms. Cherry, I do have a few and I’ve heard great things. And she’s going to be attending an author event I’ll be at in the fall, so that right there had my interest peaked. And then, as I usually do when deciding on a book, I read the 1 star reviews. 😛 It’s basically so I can see if the things they’re complaining about are the kinds of things that would bother me. It helps to temper the 5 star reviews (of which I’ll read a few, as well as any friends reviews). Well damn, the 1 star reviews really intrigued me, and gave me the impression that if I read the sample I would see right away what they didn’t enjoy. Well damn, challenge accepted! And you know what? I was SUCKED IN!!! I NEEDED MORE! So apparently I’m not like the 1-star reviewers, b/c this was sooooo my kind of book. Like seriously, I knew darned well just from the blurb that this would fit as a guilty pleasure for me.

So yeah, that was a seriously long and pointless introduction, I just found it really amusing is all. But you guys, this was just my kind of book. I know it’s going to sound really stupid, but I am so attracted to books about damaged heroines. I can’t imagine I’m the only one. And add in a swoony sweet hero? Oh yes please.

I actually just recently read a book about selective mutism, and while I enjoyed it, it didn’t blow me away. That’s because *this* was the book I was looking for. I’m probably going to completely fail this review quite honestly, I just really really really enjoyed myself. Everything from the plot, to the characters, to the swoony romance, to the intrigue, to the depth and message. I actually highlighted something that hit me so hard I shared it with my husband:

“Sometimes our minds acted as a form of kryptonite, and we had a responsibility to our own self-worth to aggressively tell it to fuck off with its lies.”

Oh Maggie May, you speak the truth.

I actually enjoyed the way the family dynamics played out in this book (which was one of the things others complained about). I appreciated that they didn’t all handle it well. It was actually a balance on how they coped with Maggie’s mutism and agoraphobia. Her Mama broke my heart, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility you know? People can be so easily influenced by others, and everyone has their own demons to face when confronting adversity. I won’t say that I wasn’t occasionally baffled at how Maggie could maintain that level of fear for SO MANY YEARS, but trauma affects everyone differently and I was able to accept it somehow.

And speaking of family dynamics, I REALLY appreciated the way the Cheryl relationship worked out. I wasn’t expecting that, I love when secondary characters surprise me.

And even the way the relationship with Brooks played out was satisfying to me. I really felt their connection and chemistry and I swooned so hard. Even if I will admit that I HATED Brooks’s taste in music. 😛 It was terrible. To me.

There was a part of me that didn’t enjoy the time jumps in the middle. I mean, I enjoyed the way they were presented, but I was saddened that so much time went by. I wasn’t expecting that.

I totally called the mystery element. Maybe I was supposed to, but I saw the way that was going to play out. But I was happily surprised with how Maggie’s healing developed.

Anyways, I’m just babbling here and probably not being very helpful. Essentially, this book was a Lenore book. It hit all my buttons, and gave me so much of what I was craving. So yay! I’m excited to get to more of Ms. Cherry’s books, but they will likely have to wait until the summer. But after reading the sample, I just couldn’t resist diving right in.

So, I just skipped down to see what you rated this and didn’t read your entire review because I have this one to read as well. I’m happy to see you enjoyed it. I just read the 4th book in this series and loved it.

ROFL, I will do this too!! If it’s a book I’m unsure about, I’ll read the review. But if I already bought it, I will avoid reviews until I’m done, b/c I’ve already invested. 🙂 I preordered the 4th one, so I hope I like it as much as you!